Monday, May 28, 2012

First impressions of Buenos Aires

Well, I've been in Buenos Aires a few days now, and I have a few impressions, some original, some not so much.

First of all, the dog poop on the sidewalks isn't THAT bad. It may be because its fall here that it doesn't seem so unbearable, but I think its because the insane about of goose poo that litters my school has given me great feces-avoidance practice. (For those who don't know, there is no pooper-scooper law in BA and a LOT of dogs).

Second, you do need to live and breathe the Guia-T or you will spend all your money on taxis, which is horrible. For example, the other day I took a taxi home rather than take a late night bus ride by myself, and my taxi driver had absolutely no idea where the intersection I asked for was. He radioed the office, stopped another taxi driver, and asked some random people on the street, but STILL was only able to find my street but several blocks away from my corner. My advice is to know a landmark near you, like a busy intersection or a subway station that is within walking distance. You shouldn't give the taxi driver your exact address anyway.

Lastly, Buenos Aires is not all cosmopolitan and crazy night life. I live in a almost totally residential area in a neighborhood called Chacarita, where the streets are quite and empty at night (hence the taxi home). If you go with a program like CEA and want to be in a homestay, request that you be in at least Belgrano, if not Palermo. My host mom and family are great, but CEA was out of their minds to place me a homestay that is so isolated from everyone else in my program.

I'm going to write another post about what I've been up to because I don't want this one to be too long, but keep this in mind if you are considering a study abroad to BA!

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